To execute the Wine Party prep, I work backwards from serving times. With limited staff (or solo adventures) this is how I keep my head above water. No plan can predict everything perfectly, especially a one-off event. But these plans gives me a guide and way to refocus on what’s next.
Wine Party Course Timing
I get consensus from the hosts on a general schedule for the courses. We start at 5pm and hope guests finish by 9pm. It took a full hour for all the guests to arrive, but we don’t wait that long to get the party going.
My first course was a Lemon Basil Granita (a type of Italian ice). I scooped and served as guests arrive and quickly popped it back into the freezer. This meant I had to stop and serve the stragglers while I was prepping other rounds. It would have been nice to have another person in the kitchen to do that.
5:00 – 1st course available as guests arrive
5:45 – 2nd course
6:10 – 3rd course
6:30 – 4th course
7:15 – 5th course
8:00 – 6th course
It was a very tight race for some dishes cooked during the event (not ahead of time). This happened to be the situation for the second course, where I needed to sear shrimp and roast figs.
Extra time between first and second course gave allowance for arrival window for guests, as they tend to trickle in after the start. If you guests have all arrived near the starting time, the first three courses are usually served within 20 windows as they are the smallest bites.
I have learned that having first course that can be at room temp for an hour or set up in an chilled display lets me put it out early. An easy-to-assemble second course alleviates a lot of pressure and allows more time to prep the third course.
Guests start to feel rather satiated by the fourth course, which is usually more substantial meat dish. To help guests pace themselves and not get overly full, stretch out the time for serving the fifth course. And longer, leisurely wind down for the last course of dessert. In most cases, I check in with the hosts to see how guests are progressing before I start plating the final course.
Prep Day Schedule
It is not just a very long day for the wine party, but the days leading up as well. I am prepping at home well into the night before, up early to finish off and pack up, and arrive at the house around 11am.
Its important to take small breaks, especially when you its a long day of being on your feet. After all the cooking and plating, there is still clean up and repacking my supplies. This usually means I am ready to go home about 11pm. At least this time with my cushy mats and better shoes, I wasn’t in as much pain.
The Crew
Similar set up as the last event, we had a very lean team. Two hosts (my mom and her friend), a wine “sommelier” (my brother), and one cook (myself). An extra hand in the kitchen would have been great. My brother had to really help me out at plating time. Most of my family knows that if you are in the kitchen while I am cooking, you will be put to work.
Service Set Up
Plated Courses– I plated each course on a single plate. However, there were at least two different “dishes” to provide a broader spectrum of flavor pairing for each wine. I then set up the plates on the large counter for guests to pick up themselves.
We had limited plates (don’t ask) and had a set of reusable acrylic plates with an Asian design. We used them for the 4th course and the 6th course. So the hosts had to collect and wash them during the 5th course. I don’t recommend doing that.
see plating supply ideas in Resources section
Gathering – Starting with the 2nd course, the hosts would ring a bell to signal guests to gather so they could hear about the next course. My brother would describe the wine, and I would explain the food. Then they would pick up their plates as they got a pour of the next wine.
Set Up – Napkins, utensils were placed next to the food. We stopped having any other food out (trays of cheese, veg, dips), as six courses has been plenty of food for the evening. Last time, a lot of cheese, fruits and veg were barely touched.
Bucket – A dumping bucket for guest who don’t want to finish their taste of a particular wine.
Water – We had a pitcher of water and some cups out. I imagine sometimes people need to drink something other than wine.
Bottles – There was 5 courses of wine, with 4 bottles for each. With basic math, that is 20 bottle of wine, which was plenty for the amount of guests (about 24??).
The last course was not wine, but two ports: a ruby and a tawny. We had two bottles of the ruby port, which was good as it was a favorite. We also had a very lovely 10 year old tawny, and as it was a lot more than the ruby, only one bottle of that. While I really liked it, it was not a favorite of the crowd. Fine, extra for the cook!
Tasting Pour – We start with tasting pours in standard wine glasses. It’s about ¼ of the glass. And then guests can have another pour for as long as we have the wine. For the port, we had shot glasses, but not filled all the way to the top.
Little Party Details
The hosts came up with trivia game to keep guests entertained during the wine pairing party. I can’t remember much of it as I didn’t have bandwidth to pay attention.
It was also St. Patrick’s Day, so the décor reflected that with shamrock napkins and such. But that was about it as I recall. I believe there were flowers out and about. As it is such a lovely home with a great view, not much extra is needed.
Our hosts printed the menu and laid them out for guests to review. I described key ingredients, any nuts inclusions, and a vegetarian options.
Next Event: Molecular Magic